Boat ramp fees stay on $27,000 track

Relevant offers

Waitaki District Council estimates it will collect close to $27,000 from the boat ramp fees at the lakes by the end of the season.

The launch fees were set by the district council in June at $50 for a season pass and $5 for a day pass, and cover the eight main boat ramps in the district.

Council property manager Dougall McIntyre said it was still too early to give an exact figure, but indications were that the numbers would be similar to the previous season.

"The money is still coming in; the season starts in September and finishes around May, but we're tracking at similar numbers to last year," Mr McIntyre said.

"I would say we're looking at $27,000 for the whole season."

The fees would go towards maintenance and other projects, but Mr McIntyre said he would need to talk to the community boards about what improvements they desired.

Waitaki district camp supervisor Simon Fox said the compliance rate had been good.

"The vast majority of people have been honest. I had to chase up a couple but they soon paid up.

"Some people don't realise that there are a lot of small maintenance jobs over the summer. The other day I had to reshingle a path to one of the boat ramps, that took me a few hours and would have been $500 worth of material. It all adds up."

Mr Fox said annual pass purchases were similar to the previous season, but he expected fewer day passes were bought.

"We had a pretty ugly period in early January, when there was lots of flooding and spilling from the lakes," he said.